spratt89

Renée Zellweger and James Franco have been unveiled as this year's Hasty Pudding winners.

The honours are handed out by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest undergraduate drama group in the US, for a "lasting contribution to the world of entertainment".

Zellweger collected the Hasty Pudding Woman Of The Year prize at a ceremony last Thursday after leading students in a parade through Harvard Square.

"This is the nicest doorstop I've ever had," she said. "I have always had great faith that no matter the state of the union, that America's future was sound so long as Harvard continued to deliver us her brightest and best.

"And after what I have experienced and witnessed today, I can tell you that I'm going to really have to re-think all that."

Spider-Man star Franco, who is currently appearing alongside Sean Penn in the biopic Milk, will pick up his Man Of The Year award later this week.

Previous recipients include Scarlett Johansson, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise.

spratt89

Gemma Arterton will play a kidnap victim in J Blakeson's thriller The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The Quantum Of Solace actress will star opposite Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston in the movie, which shows how two men's plot to abduct a rich girl gradually falls apart.

The movie is Blakeson's first feature film as a director. He has previously helmed short film The Appointment and co-wrote upcoming horror sequel The Descent: Part 2.

Production on the British-funded Alice Creed began yesterday in the Isle of Man.

spratt89

Casino Royale star Eva Green has blasted method actors, calling them "pretentious".

Speaking to GQ, the actress confessed that she does not understand why stars such as Daniel Day-Lewis refuse to break character away from the movie set.

She said: "It is a bit pretentious to come home and remain in character. Can you imagine? It must be pretty hard to live with.

"I'm sure Daniel Day-Lewis is very sweet but if he takes some of those roles home with him then it must be quite tense. I wouldn't want to be his wife."

Day-Lewis used a wheelchair for several weeks to prepare for his part as a disabled man in 1989's My Left Foot.

spratt89

Werner Herzog has cast Michael Pena, Brad Dourif and Bill Cobbs in his psychological thriller My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done.

The project, which Herzog is slated to direct and David Lynch executive produce, will recount the true story of a San Diego man who experiences a string of bizarre events which lead him to kill his mother with a sword, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe and Chloe Sevigny have already been cast in the movie.

Pena has previously appeared in Lions For Lambs, World Trade Centre and Crash.

Dourif has more than 120 credits to his name, making his breakthrough in 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, while Cobbs has featured in Night At The Museum and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

spratt89

Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen have been named the worst on screen couple for their roles in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones.

A Total Film list of the most dreadful screen couplings saw Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou taking second place in The Da Vinci Code.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett came third for their partnership in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, followed by Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton in Dante's Peak.

The poll of online Total Film readers and Twitter users was carried out ahead of Valentine's Day.

spratt89

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has revealed that a big screen version of the show is "close" to being completed.

The series, which starred Kristen Bell as a student who moonlights as a private investigator, ran from 2004 until 2007.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Thomas said that he had almost finished writing the project, saying: "It's close. A few key details left to solve.

"I'm preparing the pitch now - literally now. I hope to go in and talk to [executive producer] Joel Silver and [Warner Bros.] in the next week or two to see if they're interested."

However, he stressed that this did not mean that the movie was a done deal. "I'm going to give it my best shot and let the chips fall where they may...It's entirely possible I won't have an answer at the end of the pitch.

"They will want to consider [the pitch], look at some numbers - whatever it is people on the business side do - and then they'll give me some sort of response. Then, if they want to move forward, there's the deal-making that'll need to go on."

spratt89

Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Rachael Taylor and David Wenhem have been added to the voice cast of Zack Snyder's animated movie Guardians Of Ga'Hoole.

The quartet join Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten, who have already agreed to lend their vocal talents to the children's tale.

Based on Kathryn Lasky's novel, the movie revolves around a barn owl and his friends as they join forces with the eponymous guardians to protect their kingdom.

Snyder, whose next film is superhero drama Watchmen, will direct from a script by John Collee (Happy Feet) and John Orloff (A Mighty Heart).

spratt89

Lisa Kudrow has said that adapting Friends into a movie would be "tricky".

The actress, who starred as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom from 1994 until 2004, told the Daily Mail that a big screen version might not be successful.

"I think [the cast] are all of the opinion that it would depend on the script, but I've always felt that if everyone else was going to do a movie, then I wouldn't want to be the person who refused and then had to be replaced - that wouldn't be fair," she said.

"So I would do it, but I've no idea how the show would translate to a movie...It's not like Sex And The City. Friends was a multi-camera show filmed in front of an audience, so it has a very different feel.

"It would be tricky to pull off, sure, but if it could be done, that would be great."

Earlier this week, former co-star Jennifer Aniston said that she would be interested in doing a "one-off" episode of the show.

Kudrow's latest movie, Hotel For Dogs, is released in the UK on February 13.

spratt89

Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino has spent a second week at number one in Australia.

The crime drama holds off competition from the BAFTA-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which remains in second spot.

Jason Statham's action franchise Transporter 3 enters at three, while Angelina Jolie's Changeling debuts at four.

Elsewhere, Baz Lurhmann's epic Australia retains ninth and family comedy Hotel For Dogs slips to tenth.

The top ten in full:

1. (1) Gran Torino - $1,097,755
2. (2) Slumdog Millionaire -$832,423
3. (-) Transporter 3 - $772,526
4. (-) Changeling - $658,805
5. (3) Bride Wars - $537,935
6. (4) Valkyrie - $460,669
7. (7) Role Models - $323,102
8. (5) Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans - $321,934
9. (9) Australia - $285,774
10. (6) Hotel For Dogs - $252,039

spratt89

Noel Clarke has said that his BAFTA victory is an example of what children raised on council estates can achieve.

The Doctor Who actor and writer-director of Adulthood won the Orange Rising Star Award at Sunday's ceremony.

He beat off competition from Michael Cera, Rebecca Hall, Toby Kebbell and Michael Fassbender for the award, which was voted for by the public.

On his victory, Clarke told The Sun: "It speaks volumes about what is happening in the world.

"If I'm not testament that a council estate kid can do all right then I don't know what is."

Clarke recently confirmed that he will not be appearing in any more episodes of Doctor Who.

spratt89

Eva Green and new Doctor Who star Matt Smith have signed up for futuristic drama Womb.

The project, which tackles the controversial subject of human cloning, is Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf's first English-language film.

Green will play a grieving widow who decides to clone her late husband, according to Variety. Smith's role in the film has not been confirmed.

“Womb is one of the most touching and impressive love stories we have read in recent times,” said Match Factory's Michael Weber, who is handling the film's international sales.

spratt89

Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins have reportedly joined the cast of Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eckhart is in negotiations to play Sanderson, a wealthy landowner who introduces hard-up journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) to a different standard of living but ends up vying with him over the affections of Chenault (Amber Heard).

Jenkins will star as Lotterman, the man who oversees the newspaper where Kemp works.

Eckhart recently appeared as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight, while Jenkins has received an Oscar nomination for his role in The Visitor.

Withnail And I's Bruce Robinson will adapt and direct the project.

Filming is scheduled to begin in Puerto Rico on March 30.

spratt89

The Office star John Krasinski has been added to the cast of Nancy Meyers' latest rom-com.

Krasinski, who plays Jim Halpert in the NBC comedy, previously worked with Meyers on The Holiday.

The new project's cast already includes Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Weeds star Hunter Parrish, Lake Bell and Zoe Kazan.

It is not known what role Krasinski will play in the movie, which is based around a love triangle between Streep, Martin and Baldwin.

Meyers's credits include Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want and the Father Of The Bride franchise.

spratt89

Universal has acquired the rights to Spencer Quinn's novel Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, reports Variety.

The book, which is published by Simon & Schuster, is written from the point of view of Chet, a dog that failed at K-9 school. Chet accompanies a down-on-his-luck private eye called Bernie, who is attempting to solve a missing persons case.

Universal beat New Line and Summit to the movie package.

Hotel For Dogs and John Tucker Must Die writer Jeff Lowell is penning the script.

spratt89

Action producer Joel Silver will oversee heist thriller Conviction for Warner Bros.

Silver, whose credits include the Lethal Weapon and Matrix series, has agreed a six-figure deal to pick up newcomer Jonathan Herman's script, reports Variety.

The movie will follow a criminal serving a five-year prison term for his involvement in a failed heist. He is hired by an FBI agent to prevent his protégé from pulling off another robbery.

Silver is also working on action movie Fully Automatic and a reworking of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe.

spratt89

Mickey Rourke reportedly wants rival Sean Penn to win the Oscar for best actor at this month's ceremony.

The star claimed that Penn helped him to turn his life around during his well-documented problems in the mid-1990s, WENN reports.

Rourke has been nominated for his part in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler while Penn is up for the same award for the title role in the biopic Milk.

"Sean Penn is a good friend of mine," Rourke said.

"When I was down and out, he got hold of me and told me exactly what to do and not to do. I owe him so much that I hope he wins the award."

Earlier this month, it was claimed that Rourke and Penn had resolved their differences over drinks at the Sunset Tower in Hollywood, following reports that Rourke had previously called Penn homophobic.

spratt89

Toby Jones has again hinted that he will reprise his role of Dobby the house elf in the next Harry Potter film.

In an interview with thelondonpaper, the Frost/Nixon actor was asked if he would return to the role he first played in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

Jones said: "I believe so. It's all highly secret but I'm led to believe that Dobby will be back."

He added that he got the part in that film after he nearly ruined his voice during a West End production.

"You speak at such an unnaturally high pitch that people go: 'He's a shoo-in for an elf isn't he?'"

Jones said he could not comment on claims that the elf was modelled on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Last year, producer David Heyman revealed that a number of plot points would be removed for the film version of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

spratt89

Hilary Duff has defended comments that she made about Faye Dunaway.

The former Lizzie McGuire star's casting in a remake of Dunaway's 1967 film Bonnie And Clyde reportedly prompted the actress to remark: "Couldn't they at least cast a real actress?"

Speaking to E! News, Duff retorted by saying, "I might be mad if I looked like that too," adding that none of her fans would even know who Dunaway was.

Appearing on The Bonnie Hunt Show, Duff admitted that her insults were mean, but insisted that "it's not okay for people to take stabs at you and to say mean things for no reason".

The 21-year-old added that Dunaway failed to appreciate that she was only young and still learning, saying: "She started acting way later than I did, so I think I have time to grow with each project. I am learning and work hard at my craft."

The Story Of Bonnie And Clyde, starring Duff and Kevin Zegers, is scheduled for release in 2010.

spratt89

Brad Pitt's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button has landed the UK box office top spot.

The Oscar-nominated F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation took £2.2 million in its opening week, beating Jennifer Aniston's latest rom-com He's Just Not That Into You, which settles for second.

Elsewhere, children's fantasy The Secret Of Moonacre debuts at seven, while Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman's drama Doubt enters at ten.

The top ten in full:

1. (-) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - £2,213,495
2. (-) He's Just Not That Into You - £1,913,542
3. (1) Slumdog Millionaire - £1,587,819
4. (2) Valkyrie - £632,463
5. (3) Revolutionary Road - £508,956
6. (4) My Bloody Valentine - £339,447
7. (-) The Secret of Moonacre - £308,099
8. (8) Role Models - £295,946
9. (6) Seven Pounds - £282,283
10. (-) Doubt - £253,097

spratt89

Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins have signed up to star in Woody Allen's latest London-set movie, reports Variety.

The pair are the first actors to board the ensemble project, which Allen wrote and will film in the UK this summer. It will be his third movie based in London following Match Point and Scoop. Plot details have yet to be revealed.

Brolin recently starred in political drama Milk and will next appear in comic book adaptation Jonah Hex. Hopkins's next big screen appearance is opposite Benicio Del Toro in The Wolf Man.

Allen's latest movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, opens in UK cinemas this Friday